


A Mind Out of Time

by ElegantButler



Category: Max Headroom (TV)
Genre: Gen, Time Travel, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-22 19:18:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9621947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantButler/pseuds/ElegantButler
Summary: Bryce Lynch has gone to war. Now, years after the war has begun, he decides to use a secret time machine to travel back to the days of his innocence for a personal mission.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One-

 

Bryce Lynch's glasses reflected the fires of war as he grimly hurled a grenade at the enemy soldiers, crouching low to avoid the returning gunfire.  
He was just shy of twenty, lightly tanned, with warm eyes. His hair just reached his shoulders. It was medium brown in color with auburn highlights.  
He'd been in the trenches for ten months now. All youthful notions of using logical arguments to solve the conflict were long gone. If he were asked when he'd grown up so quickly, he'd have told the questioner that it was on the day when he'd first been scarred. That cicatrix, which would one day fade, was dark with newness now. In the mornings, he spent several minutes staring at it. Reminding himself that he was no longer just a kid, or a young teen with sure prospects.  
"McIntyre! Rogers! Go!" he called out to the men in his unit. "Clary! Thompson! Go! Go! Go! Anderson, cover McIntyre and Rogers! Andrews! Cover Thompson! I'll cover Clary!"  
Acting on orders given earlier that day, Adam McIntyre and Jack Rogers kept low as they advanced toward the left; Nathan Thompson to the right. Roland Clary, who had been chosen for his speed and courage to plant the bombs in the enemy's munitions depot, advanced directly ahead, covered by the gunfire from Bryce's L1A1.  
Ten months ago. That had been when Bryce, to the shock and horror of his dearest friends, had received the summons to go to war. It should never have come. He was a genius, one of the brightest minds in the country. And England, like many countries, had a clause dismissing those like Bryce from combat service.  
But somehow that had been overlooked, and the summons had come in.  
"You have every right to refuse," Theora had told him. "They have no business asking you to risk your life."  
"Explain to them that it's a mistake," Murray had added. "Your ACS records should be more than enough to excuse you from combat."  
Bryce had considered the matter very briefly. Then, to everyone's surprise, he shook his head. "This country's been good to me," he said. "I don't mind returning the favor."  
"Bryce, are you sure?" Edison had asked the next day as they waited for Bryce's ride to arrive.  
Bryce had looked Edison directly in the eye, making sure the reporter would have no doubt about the surety of his answer.  
"Yes."  
Now, nearly ten months and one scar later, Bryce had recently taken field command of a small fireteam when Lance Corporal Anderson had been severely wounded in combat.  
Anderson, far from dead, planned the strategies from his bed while nurses gave daily treatments for his recently lost leg, which had been amputated by the shrapnel from a dirty bomb. The same bomb which had caught Bryce, though he had fortunately only suffered a shard of metal imbedded in his face, which left the long scar upon his cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

-CHAPTER TWO-

The air above London hung thick and gray with the pollutants of ongoing war. Ignoring the old restrictions, the Belgian Army, which had invaded England two months before Bryce had been enlisted, had been using chemical weapons until they had been cut off from their Yugoslavian suppliers.  
From his hospital bed, Lance Corporal Jack Anderson watched his son Ambrose take orders from Bryce Lynch. Both of them were young, and both had had their naïveté beaten out of them on the field of battle: Ambrose by the death of his cousin Richard, Bryce by a piece of shrapnel from a dirty bomb that had forever scarred his young face.  
Anderson was proud of both of them. Ambrose and Bryce were good friends. It was nearly impossible to be in combat alongside a person, risking your life for them some days, having them do the same for you on others, and not become good friends.  
On the streets of London, battles were waged daily. Many shops and flats had been reduced to rubble. Shelters were set up in the disused maternity wards. There were no births now. That had been forbidden because of the multitude of birth defects that had been caused by the chemicals in the air and water.  
"Fall back and regroup!" Bryce called out to his soldiers as the Belgians brought in reinforcements from their Yugoslavian and Lithuanian allies  
Reaching the husk of an old Zik Zak Know Chow, Bryce motioned for his fireteam to follow him inside.  
Opening his rucksack, Bryce pulled out the radio and set it on the remains of a table in the corner.  
"This is Second Lieutenant Bryce Lynch of Fenchurch Division currently in command of Fireteam Four," he radioed. "The Belgians just brought in their buddies and we're feeling a bit lonely here. Anyone read me?"  
There was a disturbing silence for a matter of minutes. Then, a voice answered.  
"Second Lieutenant Lynch, this is Corporal Fred Myers," an Australian accent came back. "Mind if me and my mates join the party?"  
"Sure glad to have you, sir!" Bryce said as his team cheered. "The more the merrier. Transmitting location codes."  
Bryce tapped the codes into the radio.  
"Got them," Corporal Myers told him. "Tell them to get ready for a real battle, cause the Third Anzac Corps are on our way."

Corporal Myers soon arrived along with a squadron of several men. Barking orders for about two-thirds of them to fight off whatever enemy troops advanced upon Bryce's temporary base, he led the rest of his group inside.  
"Which of you is Second Lieutenant Lynch?"  
"I am, sir," Bryce answered, crisply, recognizing the uniform. "This is Cadet Ambrose Anderson."  
"Cadet, Second Lieutenant?" Corporal Myers inquired. He turned to the cadet in question. "I thought that Cadet was an Academy rank?"  
"Yes, sir," Cadet Anderson confirmed.  
Corporal Myers turned to Second Lieutenant Lynch.  
"When the initial attack came, the British Army suffered heavy losses," Bryce explained. "Many of our forces were lost. We were forced to draw new cadets out of training and put them in the field. Those who survive this conflict will receive full advancement."  
Corporal Myers nodded curtly, then turned to the next soldier in line.  
Bryce introduced Cadets Adam McIntyre, Nathan Thompson, and Jack Rogers as well as Second Lieutenant Roland Clary.  
In return, Corporal Myers introduced the small group of men who were with him. After briefly meeting Stephen Lawrence, Richard Duke, Merill Donovan, and Lance Davidson, Bryce gave his own curt nod.  
"This place isn't going to be safe for very long," Myers said as the rumble of mortar blasts and gunfire could be heard from outside. "Is there anywhere else we can make plans?"  
"Safest place around is Network 23, sir." Bryce replied. "But it's on the other side of town five miles away. Getting there's gonna be hell, sir."  
Bryce took a map of the city from his rucksack and laid it out on the table beside the radio.  
"This," he said, "is where where are right now. And over here," he moved his finger to a point east of their position, "is the location of what is left of Network 23. It's just as beaten up as the rest of the city, but the remaining structure is more fortified than the rest. I've also got a few mates at Network 23 who might be able to help out."  
"You have mates at Twenty Three?"  
"I used to work there, sir," Bryce explained. "I was their head of Research and Development."  
Corporal Myers considered Bryce's suggestion of Network 23 as a base of operations. Finally he stopped looking at the map and looked at Bryce. "What do you recommend as our safest route?"  
Bryce pointed at the streets between Zik Zak Know Chow and Network 23. "The fastest route is along the Thames. However, there is heavy gunfire there, so we're likely to use up ammo fast. If we take the Charing Cross Street route, here." He pointed to another set of streets. "It'll take us an additional seven minutes. But we'll hit less combat en route and that will give us ammo for later."  
"We're going to need more ammo and artillery at some point," Roland told Bryce. "Even with ammo saving options in effect, it won't last forever."  
"If we can get to Network 23, we might be able to use their system to find out intelligence on any new enemy munitions dumps." Bryce pointed out. "We should plan the strategic takeover of one if they do exist."  
Corporal Myers stood up. "I am going to go over this plan with my men."  
"Understood, sir." Bryce agreed. "No disrespect sir, but I must insist that you take five minutes or less."  
"I understand the essence of time in this situation, Second Lieutenant Lynch." Myers replied. "However, it is equally important that everyone here knows what is to be done and what is expected of them. Is that clear?"  
"As clear as crystal, sir."  
"Good."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

"Are you sure?" Theora asked as Dr. Duncan typed a few notes into the Network 23 medical files."  
"Absolutely," the doctor replied. "You are without a doubt two months pregnant."  
Theora thought back to when she had met Faer. The day had been fun. The night had been quite romantic. She hadn't considered the possibility of her being pregnant.  
"I'd like you to run a paternity test" Theora said, concernedly. "There are two possibilities and I want to know who the father is."  
"Of course," the doctor said, understandingly. Preparing a syringe, he swabbed a section of her abdomen. "Twenty years ago," he said as he pushed the hair-thin needle into her, "tests like this one often threatened the life of the fetus. But today, with the needle being much thinner and less fluid being drawn, there is no danger to the baby or mother."  
Extracting a small fluid sample, Dr. Duncan placed it onto a slide which he inserted into the medical computer.  
"If there is a DNA match in our database, we should know in the next five minutes."  
"Once we get the results back, do you want to call the father in, in case he might have any questions for me? Or do you want to discuss it with him on your own first?"  
"I think I'd rather talk to whoever it is alone first," Theora replied.  
A soft tone from the computer alerted the doctor that there was a match. He looked at the screen, then at Theora. His expression darkened.  
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Who's the father?"  
Dr. Duncan took a deep breath, then answered.  
"Bryce Lynch."  
Theora reached into her coat pocket and drew out the scrap of paper that had been there since she found it on her pillow.  
1J2FI  
Now she understood why Faer knew Bryce's door code. Now she knew why they had gotten along so well, even though they had apparently only just met.  
"Oh my God."


	4. Chapter 4

Jenny Wilcox and Jason Spurrier stood over a table in their private underground lab beneath the ruins of World One TV.

Before them, on a small table sat a single ring of dark blue and silver.

Hidden beneath the silver band were nearly two years' worth of circuitry and invention.

With much of England in ruins, they had been assigned to find a way to bring a stop to the war which had now raged for just over six years.

It had been Spurrier's remark, that it was a pity they couldn't just prevent the war in the first place, which had set them on their quest to build a method to travel back in time.

Then, when the first ring had been made and tested with a brief trip to and from the previous day, the project had been shut down before more rings could be created. Deemed too dangerous.

What if some do-gooder, they had wondered, had decided to take a team back in time to win the lottery in order to pay off a government debt. Or to kill any one of the major dictators or terrorist cells of the past? These might seem like noble aspirations on the surface. But each carried with it a terrible consequence.

To prevent the deaths of millions was a nice idea. It made grieving families happy for a while. But it also added new people to a population that already exceeded the food supply.

In the end, the project was disbanded and the group told to destroy the time ring they had created.

Now,three months into the year 2015, Khonsu, as the solitary time ring had been called, was still in existance.

Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch soon joined them.

"Bryce," Jenny said. "If they get wind of what you're doing..."

"I know the risks, Jenny," Bryce told her. "But I can't go into this battle without leaving behind a son or daughter to carry on the family name."

"Can't you just send someone else?" Jason asked. "Knowing the risks..."

"That's why I can't send anyone else," Bryce said. "I can ask others to follow. But I cannot in good conscience ask another to die in my place."

There was a pounding on the door.

"Open the door in the name of the British Army!"

"Hurry!" Spurrier said. "Take Khonsu and go. But remember, you have two and a half days to finish and return.

Bryce snatched up the ring and placed it on his finger,slowly twisting the band and watching the tiny numbers change until the date read March 3, 2005. Then with a simple wave goodbye, he vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

"Theora?" Edison asked over the vidicam link. "Theora? Is everything okay?"

"Oh, sorry Edison." Theora straightened up at her control desk. "Everything A-Okay. Subject is just arriving by the front door. Visual analyzer reads subject as green. Non-belligerent. You should be able to get a reasonable interview with him."

"I hope so," Edison said. "Cheviot's been begging me to do this interview all week. And we've finally got enough of a lull in all the excitement to do it."

Murray hung up the phone in his office, then walked into the main part of the Control Room. "Theora," he said, sounding cross. "I'd like to have a word with you. Ted, take over Carter until I tell you otherwise."

Theora stood up, a worried expression on her face, and walked into Murray's office.

On the way there, she wondered what Murray wanted to talk to her about. Had Dr. Duncan betrayed her confidentiality? She could only pray that Murray would not jump to any conclusions.

Sixteen was legal in London in those days, but not in many of the other countries where Network 23 aired. Would she be let go for the network to save face in those more restrictive areas? Murray would never believe that she hadn't slept with the young man who was currently in his lab wondering what to name the new primary color he'd recently invented. Not when her unborn child had his DNA.

"Sit down," Murray said when she walked into his office. "Would you mind telling me what's going on between you and Bryce?"

"Nothing," Theora said. "You can ask him if you want."

"But you're pregnant by him."

"So it seems."

"This is a serious matter, Miss Jones," Cheviot said from the vu-phone screen. "You're too good of a controller to send off. However, I must insist that you terminate the pregnancy immediately."

"I won't," Theora said, firmly. Anger flashed in her eyes. "Faer… as I knew him when we made love… had a reason for coming back and giving me this child. I will not kill it."

"Who the hell is Faer?" Cheviot demanded.

"Bryce Lynch," Theora explained. "Though I did not know it until the day after we made love."

"Miss Jones, if you do not report to me within two days with a record stating that you've had an abortion, I will have you declared unfit for motherhood and they will force you to have one."

"You can't do that!" Theora exclaimed.

"You forget how much power I have, Miss Jones," Cheviot said as he vanished from the screen.

With tears in her eyes, Theora fled from Network 23.

"What do you mean she left?" Edison was demanding from his place beside the man he had been about to interview. "Sorry," he added to his subject. "Technical problems."

He walked over to a corner and spoke into the camera. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know," Ted told him. "All I know is that Murray called her into his office and next thing I know she's running out of here like a bat out of hell."

"Put Murray on," Edison growled through clenched teeth. "Now!"

Ted stood up and called to Murray who was on the other side of the room.

"Now what?" Murray grumbled as he crossed the room. "Edison? What's the problem?"

"You tell me," Edison said. "You better not have fired Theora, Murray."

"What is happening with Theora is between her and Cheviot," Murray told Edison.

"Like hell," Edison said. "Theora's our friend. If she's in trouble, it's our job to help."

"There's nothing I can do, Edison," Murray said.

"I don't believe this," Edison complained. "Theora's a decent woman who's done a lot to help this Network and now you don't want to help her."

"Some things are too controversial to get involved in," Murray apologized. "I've put a lot of work in to make this show respectable. And I've made a lot of sacrifices. And I will not risk the reputation of this show for one controller. Not even Theora."

"Then perhaps I should leave, also," Edison threatened.

"She's pregnant," Murray finally confessed.

Ted's face lit up.

"It's not yours, Ted," Murray said.

"It's not your place to tell me that," Ted said, crossly.

"So then, who is the father?" Edison asked.

There was a long silence.

"Well?" Edison pressed. "Who is it?"

Murray's voice was barely more than a whisper when he finally answered.

"Bryce."


	6. Chapter 6

Shawn was surprised to see Theora sitting in the corner table of The Fresh Start. He knew this was the time of day when she was normally working. Still wiping the spoon he was holding, he walked over to her.

"So, what brings you here so early?" he asked her, concernedly.

"I'm going to have a baby," she told him.

"Congratulations!" Shawn laughed. "This is a cause for celebration!"

"My boss doesn't want me to have it," Theora added glumly. "He's ordered me to get an abortion or he'll have me declared unfit."

"What business is it of his?" Shawn wasn't laughing any more. His eyes were full of anger and indignation.

"He believes it will cause too much controversy for Network 23." Theora explained.

"Why would he believe that?"

"Let me start from the beginning," Theora said as Shawn sat down across the booth from her.

Edison rushed into Bryce's studio followed by Murray.

The teen was at his computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard while several looping patterns appeared on the screens in front of him.

"Bryce, we need to talk," Edison said.

"Busy," Bryce replied, coolly.

"It's important," Edison told him.

"Five minutes," Bryce bargained.

Edison yanked Bryce out of his chair, eliciting a look of annoyed surprised from the young genius.

"Theora's pregnant, Bryce."

"And...?" Bryce asked. "What's that have to do with me?"

"The baby's yours," Murray told him. "Dr. Duncan ran a paternity test on the fetus and you came up as the father."

"How can I be the father?" Bryce asked. "I don't know all the particulars about creating a baby, but I'm pretty sure it involves some sort of physical contact. And since I've never even kissed Theora, I'm pretty sure I'm not the father of her child."

"Then why is the network's medical computer saying that you are?" Edison demanded.

"I have no idea, Edison," Bryce said, "Now. Let go of me. I've got work to do."

"You're telling me that you met a time traveler?" Shawn asked, his voice low.

"It seems that way," Theora said, letting out a low sigh. "On the one hand, I can admit it's impossible to believe."

"I don't know," her brother smiled. "From what you've told me in the past, if someone were to invent a time machine, Bryce would probably be it."

Theora nodded. "The only thing is, nobody else would believe me."

"You probably shouldn't tell them anyhow," Shawn warned. "If word of the machine's existence got to the wrong people it would be very dangerous. So, here's the question. Why would Bryce come back in time just to get you pregnant?"

"You think he came back just for that?"

"Look, a woman can only get pregnant for three days out of one month, right? So he had to pick out a date within those three days." Shawn waited for Theora to process this, then continued. "So, like I asked before, why would your friend come back in time just to give you a baby? Why not impregnate you then. Or someone else?"

"I don't know." Theora said, honestly.

Once he'd attained the rough time of Theora's conception from the Network database, Bryce quietly hacked into the securicam files for her garage apartment.

He watched quietly as a man of about twenty-six helped Theora inside. She was having trouble staying upright, and Bryce wondered if she were drunk. It didn't seem likely. Then he wondered if this man had drugged her.

That worry was quickly laid to rest as the stranger covered Theora, who was still fully dressed. The man then took up a spot on the sofa and remained watchful until sleep overtook him.

Fast-forwarding to the following day, Bryce was annoyed when he saw Edison walk in.

"He knows that Theora had a visitor, and he still thinks I'm the father of her child," he complained. "What's up with that?" He listened to Theora introducing Faer to Edison, then fast-forwarded until he arrived at the point where Faer and Theora began to undress each other.

Quickly switching it off to give Theora her privacy, he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, he seems like a nice enough person," he remarked to his pet parrot. "But if he's the man who impregnated Theora, then why is my DNA showing up on her paternity test?"

"Because he is you," Theora said from the doorway.


	7. Chapter 7

Bryce sat in his studio, his mind reeling.

He was going to be a father! Here he was, sixteen, not even dating anyone. And somehow his best friend Theora was going to have his baby.

He decided to have a look at Dr. Duncan's computer. Maybe there was an error in the machine itself.

"There is no error," a slightly familiar face said from his vu-phone screen.

"Faer is it?" Bryce asked, an eyebrow quirked

"You know very well who I am," Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch replied.

"Indeed," Bryce replied. "And I know that you can't reveal the future to me. But can you tell me why I ended picking Theora as the mother of my child?"

"She's a strong woman," Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch explained. "And she's trustworthy."

"Those are good reasons."

"I only came here to tell you that. I have to return to my own time now." Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch disconnected the call, just as the door swung open behind Bryce.

"You know this is really unfair to me," Bryce said to Theora, who was now standing behind him. "From everyone else's point of view, I got you pregnant two months ago. But I have to wait ten years until I actually become involved in the situation."

"I can't change that," Theora told him. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want you to change it," Bryce admitted. "I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"Thank you, Bryce," Theora said with a warm smile.

#

Lance Corporals Bryce Lynch and Roland Clary sat up in their bunks. Neither man could sleep. There was too much adrenaline in them for the day ahead.

They had been over the battle plan twice together and probably dozens of times in their heads.

"You could hit the enemy's database from outside," Clary suggested.

"No," Bryce said. "They probably have a dummy set up in case of such attacks. The only way to be absolutely sure of hitting the real one is to hit it as it's source. You'll lead the others in a diversionary attack and I'll infiltrate their tech bunker. Once inside I'll alter the files in the database. If this works as I believe it will, Belgium's suppliers will think that the Belgian army has been saying a few nasty things about them."

"So they'll stop supplying them with weapons," Roland surmised. "I hope you're right. If we can cut off their weapons supply, it'll shorten the war."

"Given that we've already destroyed six of their munitions dumps we should see an end of the war as early as next June if we can pull this off."

"But won't Belgium's allies still be able to acquire weapons?"

"I plan to make the snubbing look like direct conversations between Belgium and it's allies," Bryce explained. "None of them will look good to their current suppliers."

There was silence for several minutes. Finally, Roland spoke again.

"Bryce?"

"Yes?"

"You're going back again, aren't you?"

"Back where?" Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch asked, feigning ignorance.

"I saw you go back in time," Roland told him. "I was in the group that raided the lab. Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone I saw you. Why did you go?"

"I've been twice already," Bryce confessed. "Once to father a child with a woman I knew in my teens. And once to explain her paternity to my younger self."

"If you survive this mission, will you go back again? Will you stay and be a father to your child?"

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" Bryce asked. "I mean, temporal paradoxes aside for the moment, if the army knew a soldier from the future was there who knew the outcome of the war..."

"You wouldn't know the final outcome. Only that of the battles you'd been in. Just don't tell them. That's all. You'd just have to get back to the lab and activate the time machine."

"No need for that," Bryce admitted. "I have it with me."

"What?" Roland asked.

"The Time Ring," Bryce explained.


	8. Chapter 8

The first helicopter of the four helicopters landed in Rabotpark, a mile and a half from the Belfry of Ghent. It was early in the morning, and rain was falling heavily, thunder rumbling off in the distance.

Lance Corporals Bryce Lynch and Roland Clary hurried to the ruins of the Disruptive City Lab.

'So, it's not in here, then?" Roland asked. "I mean we can't have lucked out?"

"No," Bryce told him. "War is never that easy. My destination lies one a half kilometers to the Southeast. The old bell tower of the Belfry of Gent. This is going to be our base of operations for the night and morning. The others should be here in ten minutes. Minus the chopper we lost over Margate."

"Who was on that one?"

"McIntyre, Thompson, and Adamson," Bryce replied. "Plus the flight crew. Be sure to put in recommendations for top honors for them when you get back."

"You really don't expect to survive this," Roland said.

"Even if I do, I'm not coming out of there," Bryce said. "I was thinking about what you said last night. And you're right. I do have a responsibility to my son or daughter."

#

Theora watched the snow storm through the garage window. She hadn't been able to sleep for about three hours. Finally giving up, she walked over to window and pulled the curtain aside to have a look. The weather forecast had been for four inches, but it looked to her like there would be a lot more than that.

#

As battle waged on the Botermarkt and Sint Baafsplein, Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch quickly entered Belfort Ghent. In his shirt pocket there was a small disc. Once he was at the top of the tower, he would upload the contents of the disc into the enemy computer. After that...

He raced up the spiral staircase until he reached the trapdoor. There was no way up, only a long hook to open the door with and a few boxes that might serve to make a ladder.

#

The wind rattling the garage door made Theora shiver. Even with the space heater going, her makeshift apartment was nearly ice cold. She would have to look for a new place soon. But without her old job at Network 23 she was rapidly running out of credits.

There was no way she was going back, however. Not after what Cheviot had demanded of her. As much as she cared about Edison's safety, she would not forgive the chairman of Network 23 for demanding that she abort the child she carried.

Edison and Murray had offered to help her out until she got back on her feet again. But she refused that as well. She wouldn't take any money that originated at Network 23. To her, it was a betrayal of the baby she already loved.

#

Climbing to the top of the stack of boxes, Bryce started to climb into the room beyond the trap door. He was halfway through when the stack gave way, boxes scattering many feet below him. For a dangerous second, he thought he might fall. But he quickly grabbed the leg of an overturned stone bench and pulled himself up.

Catching his breath, he stood up and walked over to the computer. Listening to the sounds of battle outside, he reached into his pocket and retrieved the disc. Slamming it into place, he waited for the upload to finish.

It was almost done uploading when he heard the sound of boxes being stacked in the room below him.

#

Theora put on a second sweater as the lights and heat in her apartment went out from the storm. Only the TV, connected to a citywide emergency generator like all the others, remained on. She wanted to disconnect it, to connect the generator to her space heater. But she would be in jail in mere minutes if she did that.

#

Bryce finished checking the new data. Satisfied and in a bit of a hurry, he pulled his disc from the Belgian computer and put it back in his pocket, turning the Time Ring and vanishing from the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Theora was about to leave her window and return to bed. As she was about to turn away, the next flash of lightning illuminated a solitary human shape just a few feet down the road.

The figure was walking towards her apartment. Stopping near a storm drain, he pulled something from his pocket. Grinding whatever it was under foot, he kicked it down the drain, then continued walking towards Theora's place.

As he drew nearer, Theora recognized his features. She had seen them in near darkness before.

"Bryce," she said. There was no reason for pseudonyms now. She knew who he was. She opened the door, despite the cold, and ran to him in her slippers and a nightgown.

Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch drew Theora into his arms, carrying her back inside and kicking the door closed behind them.

"Isn't this going to mess up the time-space continuum or something?" Theora asked.

"I doubt it," L.C. Bryce admitted. "The time-space continuum is as big as the multiverse or universe. Whichever you prefer. I doubt that a relatively tiny paradox is going to do much damage. It might make a few scientists go cross-eyed, but that's about it."

"I thought having two of the same person in the same time period was supposed to wipe out all matter in the universe or something like that."

"Don't be silly, Theora," L.C. Bryce chuckled. "We shed thousands of cells from our bodies every day. The matter that makes up our insides also dies and is replaced. We are entirely different beings every year. I am a wholly new Bryce Lynch from the teenager who is native to this time period."

"So, what do we do now, then?" Theora asked.

"Well, given that I've traveled in time to be a proper father to my child, do you really expect me to do this thing only half way?"

"Bryce, what are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything, Theora," L.C. Bryce replied. "I'm asking you to marry me."

Theora smiled. "Yes, Bryce," she replied.

L.C. Bryce took the Time Ring from his finger. "What's your ring size?"

"Seven," Theora replied. "Why?"

Tapping the Time Ring, L.C. Bryce selected the size adjustment option. Then he slid the newly resized Time Ring onto Theora's left ring finger.

"It's beautiful," Theora told him. "I've never seen another ring like it."

"And you never will," L.C. Bryce told her. "Always safeguard it, no matter what. And remember, it only goes to the most trustworthy of our descendants."

"Why? What is it?"

"It is a time machine," L.C. Bryce whispered in her ear. "It's turned off for now. And I've locked the controls to make sure it's not accidentally activated. "

"So, who do you want to be Best Man at our wedding?" Theora asked him.

Bryce thought about it for a moment, then a wicked grin broke out over his face.


	10. Chapter 10

The church was covered with graffiti like the rest of the buildings in the city. Gone were the days of respect and weekly assembly. In these days families viewed lessons on their preferred deities on their TVs in the comfort of their own homes.

Today the church was in use, however. It's interior polished and free of the cobwebs that had adorned it for the last three years.

It was in use for a wedding.

At the altar, Network 23's priest, Vanna Smith stood smiling.

Theora Jones and Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch had asked her to perform their wedding. But because of the recent disagreement between Theora and Cheviot, they had adamantly refused to marry at the network church.

Vanna, who was friends with the earthly owner of the church they now stood in, had made arrangements for its usage. Then she and her friend had cleaned up the place to make it presentable for the wedding.

Both Bryces stood at the altar; the best man, a boy just seventeen that day with eyes that were filled with a knowing hope, and the groom a military man proud and tall with eyes full of love for the woman he had known since the day that Edison Carter had broken into his lab.

The younger of the two was dressed in a simple blue Best Man's tux with a white carnation at the lapel and matching slacks with a pair of dress shoes.

The older, the groom, wore a white tuxedo over a pale gray button-down shirt with a simple pleated design. The matching pants were neatly pressed, his own new dress shoes just visible.

Edison Carter, Murray, and Max Headroom were there, Max watching from a TV in the back. Blank Reg and Blank Bruno were also seated there. Theora's brother Shawn was there with his baby girl in his lap.

Because Theora was an orphan, Dominique had agreed to serve as Mother of the Bride while Theora's sister-in-law Winnie served as her Maid of Honor, Blank Francis and Jaxie served as bride's maids. And Francis' daughter, Mink served as a flower girl.

On Bryce's side, besides serving paradoxically as his own Best Man, he had asked Nicholas, a student at ACS who had once zipped Network 23's transmitting signal, to be the ring bearer. It had taken nearly an hour to get him to agree, but when Theora had explained that Network 23 was not in her good graces, Nicholas had finally given in and accepted the task.

A TV near the front of the church was playing soft background music, a few old hymns about love, trust, and friendship.

A few of Bryce's classmates from ACS had found out about the wedding and slipped into the church, standing at the back near Max's screen until they were invited to join those who were already seated.

"Isn't this Bryce's wedding?" one asked in hushed tones.

"I thought it was," Jenny replied her voice also low.

"So why is he Best Man? And who's that other guy?"

"We'll have to ask afterward," Jenny whispered.

Any further conversation was cut off by the start of the Bridal March as Theora entered the room preceded by the bridal party.

Blank Mink was wearing a little yellow dress with white shoes. A basket of flower petals was draped over her left elbow. She came down the aisle, half-skipping with happiness, scattering the petals left and right as she went.

Following her came Nicholas, carrying the blue pillow on which sat the two wedding bands. He walked with his head held high, proud to be a part of anything that went against the so-called rules of Network 23.

The guests made appreciative sounds as the Mother of the Bride and bridesmaids entered next, wearing chiffon dresses of pastel blue and pink.

The music swelled as Theora glided into the room.

Theora was dressed in a slim gown with sheer sleeves and a flowing skirt that trailed three feet behind her. The pattern was floral throughout, large and widely spaced on the sleeves, smaller and more crowded on the bodice.

Both Bryce's smiled at her; the groom happy to be marrying her, the Best Man knowing that he was seeing his own future unfolding before him.

Theora reached the altar. Now she stood alongside the man who loved her and the boy who one day would, seeing the two beaming grins that were both meant for her.

Both the bride and groom barely heard the preamble, so focused on each other were they. It in itself was nothing special, the same preamble used in weddings since woman had first glided down the aisle of a church.

Then the vows came, which L.C. Bryce and Theora had written themselves.

All attention was on the Lance Corporal as he spoke the vows that would forever connect him to the woman who stood before him.

"I have been through love and war and found that I prefer love. And the love that I prefer is that which comes from you, Theora. I wish for nothing more than to spend my life with you, to journey with you through the times that are yet to come. And to always be by your side whether in adventure or ennui. Theora, I will always love you."

Now it was Theora's turn to speak.

"I am honored to be chosen by a man as brave and as noble as you. And I hope that I will always be worthy of the love that we share. You stand before me, a paradox wrapped in love, and I accept this mystery with all my heart. Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch, I will always love you."

In the fourth pew, Shawn's daughter let out a wail, which was quickly calmed by a pacifier.

"Just shy of a year old and she's already crying at weddings," Shawn whispered to Jenny who smirked and held back a chuckle.

Bryce and Theora both smiled at the sound of the wail. In just over seven months they would have a child of their own.

Vanna spoke now, calling for the rings which Nicholas brought forth.

Once Lance Corporal Bryce Lynch and Theora had exchanged wedding bands, and the pronouncement of Man and Wife had been made, the closing music began and the new couple left the altar, walking down the aisle arm-in-arm.


	11. Chapter 11




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